CTNF 18/399,916 CTNF 88891 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-08-aia AIA (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15-aia AIA Claim(s) 1, 3-4, 7, 9-13, and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Ajami et al. (US 2023/0137826 A1; “Ajami (‘826)”) . Regarding claim 1 , Ajami (‘826) teaches an apparatus for a first station (STA), the apparatus comprising memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitry configured to: encode [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0099: STA having first MAC-SAP endpoint S1 responsible for decoding frames and packets received over the wireless medium from the AP, and constructing and formatting ( i.e. encoding; see ¶ 0080: STA encodes data for transmission ) frames for transmission over the wireless medium from the STA to the AP] , for transmission to an access point (AP), a first frame comprising a point-to-point (P2P) resource request [Ajami (‘826) ¶¶ 0114-0115, Fig. 9: in step 902, STA transmits a frame over a wireless medium to an access point (AP), including a request for the AP to allocate part of a transmission opportunity (TXOP) for peer-to-peer (P2P) communications between the wireless communication device and a client device ( i.e. P2P resource request )] , the P2P resource request comprising an airtime field indicating a duration and a channel bandwidth (BW) field indicating a channel bandwidth [Ajami (‘826) ¶¶ 0115-0116: the request indicates one or more of a duration of the requested part of the TXOP in a duration requested subfield ( i.e. airtime field ), a requested bandwidth for the P2P communications ( i.e. BW field; see also ¶ 0139: Bandwidth subfield 1523 indicates the bandwidth or channel width requested for the P2P communications associated with the TXOP sharing mode )] ; decode [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0099: STA having first MAC-SAP endpoint S1 responsible for decoding frames and packets received over the wireless medium from the AP, and constructing and formatting ( i.e. encoding; see ¶ 0080: STA encodes data for transmission ) frames for transmission over the wireless medium from the STA to the AP] , from the AP, a second frame, the second frame comprising a P2P resource grant in accordance with the P2P resource request [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0115, Fig. 9: in step 904, STA receives a trigger frame over the wireless medium from the AP, the trigger frame allocating a portion of the TXOP ( i.e. resource grant ) to the wireless communication device for the P2P communications] ; and encode [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0099: STA having second MAC-SAP endpoint A1 responsible for decoding frames and packets received over the P2P link 810 from the client device, and for constructing and formatting ( i.e. encoding; see ¶ 0080: STA encodes data for transmission ) frames for transmission from the softAP to the client device over the P2P link 810] , for transmission to a second STA, in accordance with the P2P resource grant, a third frame [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0115, Fig. 9: in step 906, STA transmits (or receives) P2P data to (or from) the client device over the wireless medium during the allocated portion of the TXOP ( i.e. according to the resource grant )] . Regarding claim 3 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first frame is a control or management frame [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0103: request may be carried in a QoS Control field of the MAC header of the frame ( here, a frame including control information is analogous to a control frame )] . Regarding claim 4 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: encode the P2P resource request in an element; and encode the frame to comprise the element [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0103: request may be carried in a QoS Control field ( i.e. element ) of the MAC header of the frame; ¶ 0080: STA encodes data for transmission] . Regarding claim 7 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the P2P resource request further comprises a priority level field, the priority level field indicating a priority level of the P2P resource request [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0117: TXOP request includes a user priority of a traffic flow associated with the P2P communications] . Regarding claim 9 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the P2P resource request further comprises a service start time field, the service start time field indicating a start time for the P2P resource request [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0115: the request includes a requested start time of a service period associated with the P2P communications] . Regarding claim 10 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the P2P resource request further comprises a deadline field, the deadline field indicating a maximum time before which the STA needs a P2P resource indicated by the P2P resource request [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0115: the request includes a delay bound for the service period associated with the P2P communications] . Regarding claim 11 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the P2P resource request further comprises an indication of a planned use of a P2P resource indicated by the P2P resource request, wherein the planned use is downlink (DL) traffic, uplink (UL) traffic, or bidirectional traffic [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0139: in the request, TID subfield 1527 indicates the traffic class or traffic stream to which the corresponding frame belongs ( here, a traffic stream would be associated with a direction )] . Regarding claim 12 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the P2P resource request further comprises an indication of one or more link identification (IDs) for which a P2P resource request indicated by the P2P resource request is for [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0139: in the request, TID subfield 1527 indicates the traffic class or traffic stream ( i.e. link ) to which the corresponding frame belongs] . Regarding claim 13 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first STA is affiliated with a non-AP multi-link device (MLD), the first STA is a second AP, or the first STA is the second AP affiliated with an AP MLD [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0091: first STA 710 may include a second MAC-SAP endpoint (A1) corresponding to the first softAP 711 ( i.e. the first STA acts as a second softAP )] . Regarding claim 15 , Ajami (‘826) teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a first station (STA) [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0197: wireless device having at least one memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code] , the instructions to configure the one or more processors to: encode [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0099: STA having first MAC-SAP endpoint S1 responsible for decoding frames and packets received over the wireless medium from the AP, and constructing and formatting ( i.e. encoding; see ¶ 0080: STA encodes data for transmission ) frames for transmission over the wireless medium from the STA to the AP] , for transmission to an access point (AP), a first frame comprising a point-to-point (P2P) resource request [Ajami (‘826) ¶¶ 0114-0115, Fig. 9: in step 902, STA transmits a frame over a wireless medium to an access point (AP), including a request for the AP to allocate part of a transmission opportunity (TXOP) for peer-to-peer (P2P) communications between the wireless communication device and a client device ( i.e. P2P resource request )] , the P2P resource request comprising an airtime field indicating a duration and a channel bandwidth (BW) field indicating a channel bandwidth [Ajami (‘826) ¶¶ 0115-0116: the request indicates one or more of a duration of the requested part of the TXOP in a duration requested subfield ( i.e. airtime field ), a requested bandwidth for the P2P communications ( i.e. BW field; see also ¶ 0139: Bandwidth subfield 1523 indicates the bandwidth or channel width requested for the P2P communications associated with the TXOP sharing mode )] ; decode [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0099: STA having first MAC-SAP endpoint S1 responsible for decoding frames and packets received over the wireless medium from the AP, and constructing and formatting ( i.e. encoding; see ¶ 0080: STA encodes data for transmission ) frames for transmission over the wireless medium from the STA to the AP] , from the AP, a second frame, the second frame comprising a P2P resource grant in accordance with the P2P resource request [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0115, Fig. 9: in step 904, STA receives a trigger frame over the wireless medium from the AP, the trigger frame allocating a portion of the TXOP ( i.e. resource grant ) to the wireless communication device for the P2P communications] ; and encode [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0099: STA having second MAC-SAP endpoint A1 responsible for decoding frames and packets received over the P2P link 810 from the client device, and for constructing and formatting ( i.e. encoding; see ¶ 0080: STA encodes data for transmission ) frames for transmission from the softAP to the client device over the P2P link 810] , for transmission to a second STA, in accordance with the P2P resource grant, a third frame [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0115, Fig. 9: in step 906, STA transmits (or receives) P2P data to (or from) the client device over the wireless medium during the allocated portion of the TXOP ( i.e. according to the resource grant )] . Regarding claim 16 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the first STA is not associated with the AP or the first STA is associated with the AP [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0090, Fig. 7: STAs 710 ( analogous to the first STA ), 720, and 730 are associated with the AP 702; Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative, therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references ] . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 17 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ajami (‘826) . Regarding claim 17 , Ajami (‘826) teaches an apparatus for an access point (AP), the apparatus comprising memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitry configured to: decode, a frame from a station (STA), the frame comprising a point-to-point (P2P) resource request, the P2P resource request comprising an airtime field indicating a duration and a channel bandwidth (BW) field indicating a channel bandwidth [Ajami (‘826) ¶¶ 0114-0115, Fig. 9: in step 902, STA transmits a frame over a wireless medium to an access point (AP), including a request for the AP to allocate part of a transmission opportunity (TXOP) for peer-to-peer (P2P) communications between the wireless communication device and a client device ( i.e. P2P resource request ); ¶¶ 0115-0116: the request indicates one or more of a duration of the requested part of the TXOP in a duration requested subfield ( i.e. airtime field ), a requested bandwidth for the P2P communications ( i.e. BW field; see also ¶ 0139: Bandwidth subfield 1523 indicates the bandwidth or channel width requested for the P2P communications associated with the TXOP sharing mode )] ; encode, for transmission to the STA, a second frame comprising a P2P resource grant in accordance with the P2P resource request [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0115, Fig. 9: in step 904, STA receives a trigger frame over the wireless medium from the AP, the trigger frame allocating a portion of the TXOP ( i.e. resource grant ) to the wireless communication device for the P2P communications] . However, Ajami (‘826) does not explicitly disclose refraining from transmitting on a channel indicated by the P2P resource grant during a duration indicated by the P2P resource grant. However, Ajami (‘826) implicitly teaches refraining from transmitting on a channel indicated by the P2P resource grant during a duration indicated by the P2P resource grant [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0115, Fig. 9: in step 906, STA transmits (or receives) P2P data to (or from) the client device over the wireless medium during the allocated portion of the TXOP ( i.e. according to the resource grant ) ( here, the TxOP has been given by the owner, the AP, to the softAP ); ¶ 0045: Other wireless communication devices are generally not permitted to transmit during the TXOP of another wireless communication device to avoid collisions on the shared wireless medium] . It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art that an AP allocating TXOP resources to another device would refrain from transmitting during the allocated TXOP resources. The motivation to do so would be to avoid collisions on a shared wireless medium [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0045] . Regarding claim 19 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: obtain a transmission opportunity (TXoP), the TxOP comprising the duration indicated by the P2P resource grant [response from AP includes a start time for a service period associated with the P2P communications and a service interval associated with the P2P communications ( i.e. P2P resource grant duration )] . Regarding claim 20 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 17, wherein the AP is affiliated with an AP multi-link device (MLD) [Ajami (‘826) ¶ 0054: AP forms communication links with plurality of STA to form a BSS ( i.e. AP is a multi-link device )] . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 2, 5, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ajami (‘826) in view of Ajami et al. (US 2024/0292456 A1; “Ajami (‘456)”) . Regarding claim 2 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, however, does not explicitly disclose wherein the first STA is not associated with the AP. However, in a similar field of endeavor, Ajami (‘456) teaches wherein the first STA is not associated with the AP [Ajami (‘456) ¶¶ 0163, 0165: the AP 102- a may transmit, to the AP 102- b , a resource availability inquiry in accordance with the request for communication resources associated with the P2P session at the STA 104; 0168: AP 102-b, which is associated with different BSS, i.e., not associated with STA in BSS of AP 102-a, may transmit, to the STA 104, an indication of a resource allocation for the P2P session at the STA 104 ( here, the unassociated AP 102-b receives request from STA, via STA 102-a, and allocates resources based on the request )] . It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of requesting, by a STA acting as a soft AP, a portion of a TXOP and associated bandwidth for P2P communications as taught by Ajami (‘826), with the method of requesting TXOP resources from an unassociated AP as taught by Ajami (‘456). The motivation to combine these references would be improve resource utilization [Ajami (‘456) ¶ 0057] . Regarding claim 5 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, however, does not explicitly disclose wherein the processing circuitry is further configure to: decode, from the AP, a control frame, the control frame soliciting the P2P resource request. However, in a similar field of endeavor, Ajami (‘456) teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configure to: decode, from the AP, a control frame, the control frame soliciting the P2P resource request [Ajami (‘456) ¶ 0122, Fig. 5: the STA 104-a may receive the RTS frame ( i.e. control frame ) as part of an RTS-CTS exchange before a TXS frame to facilitate measurement, identification, selection, or otherwise determination of bandwidth that the STA 104-a expects to use (or uses) for a P2P session 302-a at the STA 104-a; ¶ 0123: reception of RTS triggers sending of CTS, responsive to the RTS, which includes TXOP request; ¶ 0173: received information is interpreted via decoding] . It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of requesting, by a STA acting as a soft AP, a portion of a TXOP and associated bandwidth for P2P communications as taught by Ajami (‘826), with the method of triggering a TXOP request, by an AP and from a STA acting as a soft AP with respect to a client device as taught by Ajami (‘456). The motivation to combine these references would be improve resource utilization [Ajami (‘456) ¶ 0057] . Regarding claim 18 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 17, however, does not explicitly disclose wherein the STA is not associated with the AP. However, in a similar field of endeavor, Ajami (‘456) teaches wherein the STA is not associated with the AP [Ajami (‘456) ¶¶ 0163, 0165: the AP 102- a may transmit, to the AP 102- b , a resource availability inquiry in accordance with the request for communication resources associated with the P2P session at the STA 104; 0168: AP 102-b, which is associated with different BSS, i.e., not associated with STA in BSS of AP 102-a, may transmit, to the STA 104, an indication of a resource allocation for the P2P session at the STA 104 ( here, the unassociated AP 102-b receives request from STA, via STA 102-a, and allocates resources based on the request )] . It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of requesting, by a STA acting as a soft AP, a portion of a TXOP and associated bandwidth for P2P communications as taught by Ajami (‘826), with the method of requesting TXOP resources from an unassociated AP as taught by Ajami (‘456). The motivation to combine these references would be improve resource utilization [Ajami (‘456) ¶ 0057] . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ajami (‘826) in view of Ajami (‘456) in view of Ryu et al. (US 2020/0329495 A1; “Ryu”) . Regarding claim 6 , Ajami (‘826) in view of Ajami (‘456) teaches the apparatus of claim 5, however, does not explicitly disclose wherein the control frame is a trigger frame indicating an uplink (UL) resource allocation for the first STA to transmit the first frame. However, in a similar field of endeavor, Ryu teaches wherein the control frame is a trigger frame indicating an uplink (UL) resource allocation for the first STA to transmit the first frame [Ryu ¶ 0136, Fig. 13: in a third period (T3 to T4), a user STA receiving the MU RTS frame may transmit a CTS response frame to the AP through a channel indicated by the RU Allocation field] . It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of requesting, by a STA acting as a soft AP, a portion of a TXOP and associated bandwidth for P2P communications as taught by Ajami (‘826), with the method of providing resources for transmission of clear-to-send messages in a ready-to-send message from an AP as taught by Ryu. The motivation to combine these references would be to improve spectral efficiency in dense wireless communication environments [Ryu ¶ 0003] . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ajami (‘824) in view of Cariou et al. (US 2019/0306685 A1; Cariou) . Regarding claim 14 , Ajami (‘826) teaches the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry, wherein the transceiver circuitry is coupled to two or more antennas [Ajami ¶ 0086, Fig. 6: STA 604 having processor and memory and also includes one or more antennas 625 ( i.e. two antennas ) coupled with the wireless communication device 615 ( i.e. transceiver ) to transmit and receive wireless communications] for receiving signaling in accordance with a multiple-input multiple- output (MIMO) technique [Ajami ¶ 0075: APs 102 and STAs 104 may utilize multi-user multiple-input, multiple-output (MU-MIMO) and multi-user orthogonal frequency division multiple access (MU-OFDMA) techniques] . However, Ajami (‘826) does not explicitly disclose wherein the two or more antennas are micro-strip antennas or patch antennas. However, in a similar field of endeavor, Cariou teaches wherein the two or more antennas are micro-strip antennas or patch antennas [Cariou ¶¶ 0025, 0079: when performing TXOP portioning between an AP and MLD STA for P2P traffic, STA may utilize one or more patch antennas or micro-strip antennas; Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative, therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references ] . It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of requesting, by a STA acting as a soft AP, a portion of a TXOP and associated bandwidth for P2P communications as taught by Ajami (‘826), with the . The motivation to combine these inventions would be to used a multiple antenna design to support MIMO communications thereby improving communication throughput [Cariou ¶ 0003] . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim 8 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN P COX whose telephone number is (571)272-2728. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00AM-4PM EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached at 5712722832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /BRIAN P COX/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 2 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 3 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 4 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 5 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 6 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 7 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 8 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 9 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 10 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 11 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 12 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 13 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 14 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/399,916 Page 15 Art Unit: 2474
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